Former Neighbours star found guilty over Nazi gesture

A man who once starred on the television soap Neighbours has been found guilty of making a gesture that resembled a Nazi salute.

Damien Richardson, 56, was charged with performing a Nazi salute at a restaurant in Melbourne’s southeast in September 2024, while he was delivering a speech.

Video of the gesture was played to the Moorabbin Magistrates Court as Richardson faced a two-day contested hearing this week.

His lawyer Peter Monagle argued the gesture was performed for genuine “artistic or theatrical purposes”, and claimed the restaurant was closed so it was not a public place.

However, Richardson was found guilty on Friday of performing a gesture that “resembles a Nazi salute” in a public place.

Magistrate Justin Foster found the gesture was not performed for artistic, theatrical or academic reasons, and even if the venue was closed for a function, it was still a licensed premises, which was a public place.

“The gesture made by the accused does resemble a Nazi salute, and it is likely to be confused with or mistaken for that gesture,” Mr Foster told the court.

“So for those reasons I do find that a Nazi gesture, under the definition given to it, has been performed.”

However, Mr Foster also found Richardson showed no “loyalty, affiliation or obedience” to Hitler or Nazis in performing the gesture, as described by an expert who gave evidence on Thursday.

As well as the gesture resembling a Nazi salute and being performed in a public place, the expert said it must demonstrate “loyalty or unconditional obedience to Hitler”.

“I do not find that it demonstrates loyalty or unconditional obedience to Hitler,” the magistrate said, taking into account all of the context around the gesture being made.

Prior to the salute, Richardson complained about his treatment in some Age articles, which he claimed labelled him as Nazi-like “to shut down what some might describe as extreme right-wing views”, the magistrate said.

“The salute that came immediately afterwards was in a mocking gesture, perhaps aimed at The Age, perhaps aimed at himself,” Mr Foster said, adding he had not seen or investigated the articles himself.

“Together with the following the words … that he clearly wasn’t Adolf Hitler, and that he’s not a Nazi.

“And in fact, he went on a few moments later to describe how his own grandfather had fought in the war against Nazis and against the Nazi ideology, and he was very proud of his grandfather for doing that.”

Mr Foster found Richardson also spent time during the 10-minute speech “shutting down what might be described as elements of anti-Semitism in the room”.

“And so I do not find beyond reasonable doubt, even on the balance of probabilities, that he was showing loyalty, affiliation or obedience, he was doing it to either mock himself or mock The Age newspaper,” he said.

Richardson will return to court on December 4 for a pre-sentence hearing.

By: Emily Woods/AAP